2024 Recipients

Spring 2024

Congratulations to the following recipients of our Spring 2024 CARE Awards, who were recognized during the college's annual State of the College event in February.

Classified

Evonne Jackson, Administrative Specialist, Cleveland

"Evonne's office is the first one people come to when they walk through our doors in Cleveland, and they are always greeted with a smile and kindness. She has created a bond with each and every faculty member on our campus, and she not only helps with whatever they may need but has learned about their families and their hobbies, and they know they can come and talk with her at any time!" 

“Evonne is so amazingly helpful, from ordering books from my faculty funds, to helping me get conferences booked, to signing me up for membership in professional organizations and more. Her support helps me use my brain to teach.” 

"Evonne helps students schedule their CCEs. They have all gotten to know her and love chatting with her. She loves working with everyone and she has the best smile when dealing with people."

Maureen McCann, Administrative Specialist, Dublin

"For most constituents, Maureen is that very first stop and overall welcoming presence when entering our campus facilities. She is an ever-present and always reliable ‘go to’ colleague and collaborator for faculty, staff, and students alike. Maureen has a thorough knowledge and understanding of our campus operations and services."

"Maureen's strong organizational and planning skills are invaluable to any project; she has helped to restructure and run the College's revamped event scheduling process along with other college leaders. She is quick to catch what is working, what is not, and how we can improve our processes."

Maureen has recently taken on supporting many of the access/key requests for campus audiences, as well as monitoring building service requests and campus purchase orders. She also has a keen eye for design and is artistically creative. Her designs lend our College events a distinctive and professional look through signage, nametags, flyers, etc."

Administrative

Jean Thuma, Senior Research Coordinator, Athens

"Jean Thuma is a hidden gem in the research world. She works diligently in the background to make sure our research enterprise has the equipment and reagents necessary to run as smoothly as possible. She is very frugal with research resources and is constantly looking for ways to be more efficient with funds. For instance, she recently took it upon herself to explore new options for purchasing liquid nitrogen. After checking with multiple companies, she found that by changing vendors, she could save the college upwards of $5,000 per year." 
"Jean is the first person to volunteer to help ANYONE with whatever they need at any time.  She does not hesitate to come in after hours, weekends, and holidays to take care of research facilities, experiments, research animals, etc. There is NO DOUBT that HCOM research would not run smoothly or efficiently without Jean!"

Maria Cecilia Courreges de Benencia, Senior Research Scientist, Athens

"Cecilia possesses the invaluable combination of understanding scientific rigor and the ability to work effectively in an extremely intense clinical research setting." 
She helps restore and maintain core facilities in the LSB. This fall she took on the task of clearing out about four long-vacant labs that had become dumping grounds for unused equipment and supplies. Her herculean effort has reclaimed this valuable space and increased our research potential. She routinely comes in after hours to check on equipment; because of this, she recently discovered a flood in one of the buildings that could have ruined hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of scientific equipment if not for her quick actions." 
A nominator who worked alongside Cecelia on some complex research involving human subjects, praised her leadership, technical excellence, and in-depth knowledge. "She is committed to ensuring not only top-quality data collection, but also a positive research experience for the study participant."

Faculty

Bela Bhatt-Koshal, DO, Assistant Clinical Professor, Osteopathic Medical Manipulation, Athens

"Dr. Bhatt-Koshal embodies everything that OMM is: Mind, Body and Spirit.
Mind: She speaks with cultural relativity in mind. She speaks and guides us from her successes and failures of life. She’s not afraid to lead with her failures. As students we need to see that kind of vulnerability and humility, and we benefit from her wisdom. 
Body: Although she is small in stature, she is mighty, and a force of OMM! If every faculty serves as a body part in OMM, Dr. Bhatt-Koshal is the heart. The heart doesn’t speak, yet it works hard, keeping the body warm, oxygenated and moving.
Spirit: Dr. Bhatt-Koshal has a wonderful spirit! She wears many hats, from professor to mentor, mom and friend to some of us who desperately need it. She is a pillar in the Athens community, always giving back even without the recognition."

Karen Coschigano, PhD, Associate Professor, Molecular/Cellular Biology, Athens

"In her role as Associate Course Director, Karen's attention to detail, her constant follow-through, and her intimate knowledge of the curriculum and our department has vastly improved my teaching efforts and allowed me to focus on the content instead of the process. She is instrumental in every aspect of course preparation: tracking updates of SLOs, session guides, and exam questions. I could not function without her work."

"Karen brings her knowledge and insight of the curriculum to the many tables she sits at, which helps to keep us all on the same page and working towards the same goal. She also works to make OME process and procedures more understandable for faculty, providing them with in-person assistance through each step of course preparation. She is also a solution-driven person, bringing operational difficulties and suggestions to the attention of administrators so they can be addressed."